Heart to Heart
by asesina
Summary: Missing scene for 6x10. Stefan and Damon have an important conversation about the past 4 months.


Heart to Heart by asesina

Disclaimer: I don't own TVD.

Summary: Stefan and Damon have an important discussion about the past 4 months.

Just a missing/extended scene for 6x10. Set before the end of the episode. I loved the ending, but I just wanted to do a slightly longer scene.

I hope you like it! 

-0-

Damon Salvatore leaned back in the driver's seat of his '67 Camaro. It all still seemed so unreal. He had everything back: his home, his car, his family- everyone but Elena.

Her apathy and distance weighed heavily on him, but had other things to distract him in the meantime, namely, the mission to find Bonnie.

That weighed even _more _ heavily on his conscience, and he swallowed the guilt every morning, wondering why _he _was the one who came back, why _he _ was the one who survived.

Damon certainly wasn't complaining, though. He had plenty of things to be grateful for. Stefan had been nothing but supportive since his miraculous return, and their strife-free brotherly relationship made Damon's heart swell with a long-forgotten tenderness and joy.

He pulled the Camaro up to the Salvatore mansion and smiled when he saw Stefan's red Porsche in the driveway.

Even though he'd never admit it, he liked having his brother as a constant presence in his life again.

Damon stepped out of the car and ran his hand along the sky blue hood. It really was pristine and perfectly restored. Stefan had always been a bit of an overachiever.

For a moment, he thought of Stefan hunched over the hood, holding back tears as he rebuilt a car for a brother he'd never see again.

_But fate had brought them back together._

Damon shook the image from his mind and opened the front door.

"Anybody home? Stefan?" he called.

"In here! I'm just cleaning up the mess that Jeremy made," Stefan replied.

Damon grinned at the faint edge of frustration in Stefan's voice.

"Need any help, Stef?" Damon asked in a sing-song voice. He could almost hear the vein popping on Stefan's forehead.

"Damon, I know that you hate messes as much as I do. How many pizza boxes and beer cans can two guys go through in four months?" Stefan said with a groan.

He looked up to see Damon leaning nonchalantly against the door frame.

"I'm not going to get through all of this today," he added sullenly.

There was a long pause, and Stefan furrowed his brow.

"What?"

"Nothing," Damon said softly. "It's just good to be home."

Stefan quickly nodded in agreement, but they lapsed into another moment of silence. They had been through so much in the past few weeks, but they weren't sure where to start.

"So," Stefan began slowly, "how's the Camaro running?"

Damon broke into a wide grin. "Good. Really good, in fact. I think you might be some kind of a wizard, Stefan."

Stefan gave a quick shrug, but Damon could see the hint of a proud smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"Thank you. I know that it-," he paused, unsure if he should bring up the subject.

"I know that it wasn't exactly easy for you."

Stefan's eyes widened a bit, but he gave a quick nod in acknowledgement.

"I just, uh, became a mechanic. It wasn't that big of a deal. I started working on my own cars in the 50s, actually."

Stefan dropped his gaze again and tightened his grip on the newspaper.

Damon didn't want to upset him, but he studied his brother carefully.

"I know, Stefan. I also know that you didn't just give up on me like Enzo said," he said quietly.

Stefan's head snapped up, but his expression was unreadable.

"No, he was right. I gave up on you, I pushed Caroline away," Stefan began. He crumpled the newspaper into a ball and blew out a slow, mournful breath.

"I'm sorry, Damon. I tried."

Stefan's voice was very small now, and Damon began to regret bringing it up.

"It's ok, Stef, seriously," he said gently. He patted Stefan's shoulder, and he was alarmed at the shudder that passed through his younger brother.

"I let them all down, but I couldn't stay around. I tried to find a way, I swear, but- everything was a dead end."

Damon saw that Stefan was struggling to hold back tears, and a pang of guilt tightened his chest.

"I know, Stefan. You did everything you could," he soothed, but Stefan shook his head.

"No. I ran away. I couldn't deal with the failure. Every day, I would look at them- Elena and Caroline and even Jeremy, and I'd think about how I couldn't bring them back to you," he paused, "or me."

"I didn't want to forget about you, but I couldn't take it. I guess that the Camaro was my way of keeping a piece of you here, but I gave up, Damon. I gave up."

Stefan let the newspaper fall to the ground, and he shed a few tears as Damon gave him a few awkward pats on the back.

His younger brother wiped at his eyes, seemingly ashamed of his tears, but Damon smiled broadly at him.

"Bet you never thought that you'd be able to give it back to me, huh?" he said with a grin.

Stefan smiled through his tears and gave a quick, grateful nod. He patted Damon's shoulder in return and let his hand linger there for a moment like he had on that night in October when his older brother came back from the dead.

Damon held his brother's gaze for a moment before taking another look around the ransacked living room.

"Why are you standing there, Stef? You've got a hell of a mess to clean up," he said slyly.

"What? Even after all of that, Damon? Come on!" Stefan cried in exasperation.

Damon stifled a laugh as he waved good-bye and walked out of the room.

End.


End file.
